As a nation, we're getting steadily heavier - WHY?

Laziness
Too much sitting in front of: TV, computer, video games, etc.
Too many gadgets that do the work for you instead of you manually doing it!
People giving in to "on the run food", although you CAN make smart choices at fast food places.

Processed foods. Cars. Portion sizes. Compare a pyrex dish made today to that made in the 60's/70's. HUGE difference!

more calorie dense foods.

its not that its processed.. its just that everything presented to us, even healthy choices, are often more calorie dense, and/or in larger portions then in the past.

so we consume more calories... makes a MUCH larger diff then 'lazyness' or 'lack of movement' if you're only considering overall weight.

High fructose corn syrup! It's in EVERYTHINGGGG!

Life is just too darn easy. Physically at least. And on the flip side, emotionally, it can be more stressful, so then you have stress without the physical release of being more active, which results in comfort eating.

Technology
Constantly available no prep needed food (seriously there are people snacks when in line at Petsmart now)

Everything is bigger in America. The large size pop from Mcdonalds in France is the U.S's small.
Most Americans don't know what proper portion sizes are. I didn't until I started MFP

I'll break the trend here because I don't think it's laziness. I think there are a lot of factors at work that people fail to appreciate. We're constantly inundated with contradictory messages about what is healthy and what isn't. Billions upon billions of dollars are spend each year to get us to eat fattening food and buy expensive products and services to undo the damage. The truth is deliberately obscured and muddied. Even people who have the time and inclination to research and sort it out for themselves get it wrong a huge portion of the time (check out these very forums to find a great many examples). And those who actually want to help the consumers, the people at the bottom, simply don't have the power to overcome these problems and aren't listened to.

People love to make this about personal responsibility and say that fat people are just too damn lazy. But that's not fair. It's ridiculous to think we can separate the individual from the environment around them, particularly when the environment is being intentionally altered to change that individual's behavior. Of course there is a degree of personal responsibility and choice, but we can't ignore the fact that we are affected by the world around us. If someone is deliberately set up to fail, it is not fair to place all the blame for failing squarely on their shoulders.

Everything is bigger in America. The large size pop from Mcdonalds in France is the U.S's small.
Most Americans don't know what proper portion sizes are. I didn't until I started MFP

also this
Big Mac in Spain is 10% smaller then in US. Portions in restaurants are usually half the US size...

I actually believe that the reason we are fat is because we don't have enough physical activity. most people live in the suburbs and drive their kids to school and then drive to work and then drive their kids home and then drive to the store and then drive to the gym. we wouldn't need the gym if we walked to work or walked to school or walked to the store!

and on top of all that we don't teach our kids to fit in physical activity daily! turn off the computer and the tv and lets get our kids outside!

I hate when people blame it on laziness.

I am self-employed. I'm a crazy busy self-employed person turning clients down left and right. I work with my kids some days and am on the road until 6 or 7 PM from early in the morning. The days without the kids I pick them up around 4, but usually have to go home to open the computer and continue working.

It just so happens that if I have time to make dinner, it's certainly not very much time. *IF* I have time.

My husband frequently cooks, but now he's in training the last few weeks. So he's been gone and home late a lot, too.

It is not that we are lazy, because I know for a fact I work harder than the average bear. And I never stop moving/running/driving/working. I only get 4-6 hours of sleep a night if I'm lucky most of the time. So it's not laziness.... it's the fact that I'm so NOT lazy that I have a hard time making dinner.

I need to rely on the crockpot more. But my point is that some nights, when you suddenly realize your kids haven't eaten dinner and it's 6 PM and you need to make something that "quick and easy" recipes or meals are easier. Granted, quick and easy for me often means something like tacos, but there are lots of "naughty" easy and quick recipes, too - and it adds up quickly!

I apparently need to work harder so I can hire someone to cook for me.

Fear of dietary fat consumption based on bad science, a food pyramid based on bad science, subsidising agriculture, politics and commercial interests overriding good health.

You are eating too much nutrient poor rubbish supported by recommendations that have no basis in fact.

Follow the money, there is no profit to be made in a healthy population.

Rampant diabetes and statins are a logical result of this madness.

Gluttony and sloth? Less so.

To much quick food; not 'fast' food, though that does play a part.

Quick food; the food you don't have to prepare to eat, and, especially for families with kids, we don't have the amount of stay at home moms (or dads for that matter). Growing up I was in pretty dang good shape, I was athletic, but I was also a gamer; I think the kicker, where other kids in the same sport were heavier than me, my mom was a stay at home that really cooked stuff from scratch. I have nothing against two working parents, but I tend to think a part of the reason I didn't ballon as a kid was we had a garden, that my mom worked in during the day (with us helping) and honestly, going to a friends house and having Life cereal, or that white store bought bread? It sounds silly, but that was a treat to me! Cracked Wheat, Homemade Rye bread; I grew up, and each meal was prepared, not canned, not nuked in the wave of micro.

It is too easy, in our society as a 'whole' for instant gratification, pop used to be a treat... now it is a daily consumed 'beverage', same with many candies, and sugary things; once they used to be one a month, if that; now it is as easy as throwing a dollar to get a 900 calorie fix.

Being overweight used to be a sign of wealth; it still is in 'some' regards. The US, while people like to cut it down, is doing fair all considering; there are bad areas, etc... but, when people are only gripping about gas prices and not the cost of a loaf of bread? Once people start protesting food costs I'll start to worry.

Farm Market it up people!! *throws his two cents* ^_^

I was at waffle house the other day, enjoying some chicken salad.
And this couple came in with their son, I'm assuming he was about 8.
They were all fairly large.
So the order for the son. 2 waffles. He uses FOUR of those little cups of butter. Drowns it in syrup. And gets a side of hashbrowns with double cheese and ham.
Not including the butter or syrup.
It came out to like 1100 calories.
That's why we're getting fat.
People just don't care anymore. They don't think twice before they do it.
If it's yummy, get at it.
And hey, it made the kid happy, right?
:grumble:

I don't think that really gets at the point though. Of course people are heavier because they eat too much, but why do they eat too much and think it's fine?